For a lot of Android users out there, the Nook Color was their first exposure to the platform, or at least their first exposure to the magic of root and custom ROMs. The tablet's unlocked bootloader (from the days before B&N caught wise and started protecting its loss-leader business model) made it easy to convert into a "full" Android device. The CyanogenMod family of ROMs was one of the first reliable alternatives to the base software, and despite the aging hardware, the latest update is now available for the Nook Color.

Over the past few days, ASUS has begun rolling out a treat to MeMO Pad Smart 10 owners, distributing Android 4.2.1 in an update to build number V10.6.1.15. The update, which rings in at about 500MB, brings the MeMO to 4.2.1 from 4.1, delivering on ASUS' "Q2 2013" promises noted in our review.

Of course, the headlining feature with this update is 4.2's multi-user support, which we already saw on an ASUS slate back when the manufacturer brought 4.2 to the TF300T in the US, beating other OEMs to the update punch.

Back in January, we learned that if you want to be a developer and avoid leaving money on the table, you need to be on both Android and iOS. One or the other isn't going to cut it. However, according to AppAnnie, if you have to choose just one platform, Android is still struggling to prove it's the one you should go with.

According to the report, Play Store downloads are nearing App Store levels, reaching close to 90% as much as the iOS store.

Earlier today, Google started pushing some new open source code to AOSP (Android Open Source Project) marked with 2 new tags: android-4.2.2_r1.1 and android-4.2.2_r1.2. The build number corresponding to the 4.2.2_r1.2 release is JDQ39E.

The dates you see here are commit dates, not dates the commits were made public (which is today, April 17th 2013)

What's New?

After weeding out the changes from the commit logs, it looks like all of them are, as expected, very minor.

Congratulations are in order for the Team Kang, the developers of the Android Open Kang Project. As of yesterday AOKP is only the third community-created ROM to run on 1,000,000 Android devices, behind CyanogenMod and MIUI. The team announced their milestone on the aokp.co blog, noting that with the upcoming release of the first Android 4.2 Milestone build, they'll be shaking up the release process a bit.

Instead of the rather slow numbered build releases, AOKP will be automatically built and distributed from the team's servers every four days.

AT&T announced on its official blog that the LG Escape will be receiving an update to Android 4.1, and that said update should be headed to devices starting today. The first release of Jelly Bean includes things like expandable rich notifications, Google Now, and possibly some Project Butter smoothness enhancements (all LG handsets I've seen have them, at least).

AT&T's DriveMode app is also included in the update, so there'll be another piece of carrier bloat (arguably of the less than useless variety) in your app drawer.

It looks like Google is gearing up for the Glass Explorer program, launching the MyGlass companion app and a new Glass setup page, both accessible to the general public.

The companion app relies on Google's now-signature "Card UI," and the listing's screenshots show off some of the app's functionality, though Google reminds us "if you don't have Glass, then downloading this will be a waste of time. Sorry about that." The description goes on to comfort readers, however: "But if you swipe the screenshots to the right, you'll see there's a picture of a puppy in pajamas.

A little less than a year ago, we saw a report that showed the Galaxy Tab was the most popular Android tablet, followed closely by the Kindle Fire. A lot has happened since then. The Nexus 7 has rolled out and set the new bar for what a small, cheap Android tablet should be. So, what's changed worldwide? Well, according to Animoca, not much.

According to the firm—which distributes games and entertainment apps—the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is the top Android tablet with 11.8% of its network, followed closely by the 10.1 model of the same line.

Verizon has just announced the Jelly Bean update for the Motorola DROID Bionic, bringing Android 4.1.2 to a handset many thought would never make it past Gingerbread. Motorola has been on an update spree the last few months, and the decision to bump the Bionic to Android 4.1 was made official by Motorola back in October 2012. The version number for the Jelly Bean update is 98.72.22, and it will begin rolling out in phases on April 15th.

About six months ago, Google expanded the portfolio of countries with access to Play Music for the first time since its launch in the US. Today, seven more countries were added to that list: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Portugal.